Robert Nkemdiche: Will he go to Clemson or not?

Beverly Nkemdiche, the mother of Clemson commitment Robert Nkemdiche, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she has never been to Clemson, never talked to anybody from Clemson’s team and that she doesn’t want to go there “because that’s out of my way.”

Robert Nkemdiche, a defensive lineman from Grayson High in the Atlanta area, is the nation’s No. 1 prospect.

“There is nothing that would take me there,” Mrs. Nkemdiche told the AJC. “What took me to Ole Miss was Denzel (Robert’s brother). I haven’t been to any other school. Honestly, if Denzel was not at Ole Miss, I wouldn’t have gone to Ole Miss. My No. 1 team is Alabama. But I don’t have a child in Alabama to take me to Alabama. My son is in Mississippi at Ole Miss. That’s what took me to Mississippi.

“So I’m not going to travel all over the place just to talk to coaches. No, I won’t. I’m not being cocky or anything. It’s just not in my schedule. I just went to Ole Miss to visit with my son. I had a wonderful opportunity there to talk with the coaches and the academic people, and that’s it.”

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Mrs. Nkemdiche continued to express her desire that her sons play on the same team.

She recently told ESPN the Magazine that she was “unhappy” with the Tigers and that she felt “like Robert was pressured into this decision.” Robert told ESPN “my mom wants me to go to Ole Miss” to play with Denzel, who is a starting linebacker for Ole Miss as a freshman.

Mrs. Nkemdiche resides in Nigeria and works in politics as a state legislator. She plans to attend the Ole Miss at Georgia game on Saturday along with Robert and other family members, according to the AJC.

Asked if she would talk to Clemson coaches is they called, she said: “I would talk on the phone with Clemson, most definitely. It would be rude if I did not talk to them. Some people think I hate Clemson but I don’t dislike any school.”

Mrs. Nkemdiche said Robert “has not expressed to me that he truly, truly wants to be there (at Clemson). When we talk about it, I will say how important it is for him to play with his brother. I’m not going to hide how I feel about wanting both boys to play together. If that makes me a bad person, so be it. I want my boys to play together, period.

“I’ve read in the media how the mom swears up and down that he will not go to Clemson and all that. I’m not really concerned about what everybody else says. But if they were in my shoes, they want the same thing for their child. To me, a verbal commitment that they said he made to Clemson is nothing. To me, that will not hold water until he signs the dotted line in February.”